Lacey Spears, the mother who blogged about her son’s illness and his subsequent death, has been found guilty of second-degree murder of the little boy.
The court found that Spears, 27, killed her five-year-old son, Garnett-Paul Spears, in January 2014, by force-feeding heavy concentrations of sodium through a tube.
Prosecutors argued Spears, a single mother, force-fed the boy salt through his stomach tube to get attention, Daily Mail reports.
Spears’ legal team argued in court there was no ‘direct evidence’ of a crime, although footage showed Spears taking the boy into a hospital bathroom with a connector tube and her son suffering afterward, twice.
Assistant District Attorney Patricia Murphy described Spears’ actions as “torture”, saying in court: “‘The motive is bizarre, the motive is scary, but it exists… She apparently craved the attention of her family, her friends, her co-workers and most particularly the medical profession.”
She argued Spears eventually killed Garnett-Paul because she feared he would start telling people she was making him ill.
Related content: Lacey Spears.
Previously, Mamamia wrote:
Spears’ blog, “Garnett the Great,” was started by Lacey just after Garnett was born.
There is no clear evidence as to why Garnett had a feeding tube, but what is known is that Lacey Spears wrote about it extensively.
Her online following on Facebook, My Space and on her own personal blog followed her journey as a single mother supporting her sick child.
The Journal News reports that Lacey’s blog doted on Garnett to the point of obsession.
Spears told friends that Garnett had “failure to thrive” — a catch-all term for children who don’t eat enough and had a feeding tube inserted as a baby.
In the first year of his short life Garnett, was in the hospital 23 times, once for five weeks. All these incidences chronicled in detail on social media.
Her massive following supported her through each hospitalisation and each life upheaval.
From The Journal News:
“They followed on Facebook as Lacey moved in 2010 from her hometown Decatur, Ala., to Clearwater, Fla., where she and “G” — as he was known — lived with Lacey’s grandmother for a brief, idyllic time. In 2012, she moved Garnett north, to Chestnut Ridge’s secluded Fellowship Community, saying she hoped the close-to-the-earth living would be the answer to the boy’s chronic health issues. She wrote a blog, “Garnett’s Journey,” subtitled “Healing takes courage, and we all have courage, even if we have to dig a little to find it.On it, she chronicled hospital stays and the loss of her soulmate, Garnett’s daddy, Blake.”
But it took a turn for the worst when on January 19, five-year-old Garnett was airlifted to hospital.
Lacey’s Facebook page showed heartbreaking images of her little man on life support.